Let's play a game
by gfcf14
Summary: Eddy is finally given a chance to brag, as he remains unbeatable while playing a fighting video-game with the cul de sac boys, until someone knocks on his door. Meanwhile, how will May fare against a genius boy in a beanie hat playing a game for the first time? Set shortly after More than just a Hullabaloo.


**Let's play a game**

"How long are you gonna make me wait?"

He cleaned his brow. "I'm sorry, Eddy. But Dad asked me to arrange his books…"

The short boy complained. "But, Sockhead! Doesn't he always keep his shelf in perfect order?" He finished with an aristocrat-like accent, mildly annoying Double D.

"Yes, Eddy… but what can you expect after you threw Sheldon number three on top of it?"

Eddy face palmed himself. How could Ed keep such a disgusting piece of Gruyere for so long was beyond him. At least, once the beanie boy's parents heard the ruckus, they made Ed throw out the expired food.

"Alright, alright, I get it, I'm responsible here… so why can't I help again?"

"I'm afraid father entrusted me to accomplish this task. The books need to be arranged in alphabetical order, while at the same time minding usage of space to keep the same order before the shelf fell, and they must also be separated by genre, as well as making mention of the ones written in French, German, Spanish, and…"

"Okay, I got it!" Eddy lost his patience. "Just remember, the guys are coming over for a tournament, so you better show up alright?!"

Double D looked at his friend and smiled. "Sure, Eddy."

The con artist smiled back and left his friend's house.

* * *

She had bought the biggest one she found at the store, and yet she still had a hard time putting all of them together. Just as she squeezed the last picture in the last page, Marie Kanker closed her photo album, proud she had managed to complete her own project, hoping to make her cherished memories more accessible for her and her siblings.

Carefully, the blue haired girl opened each page, and sat back on the couch to look at each of them. As her head flooded back with memories, she closed her eyes in delight, enjoying the peace and quiet of her current ambience.

"That's one thick album!"

She gasped and almost let the album fall out of her hands. As she grabbed hold of it, she set it down on their newly acquired coffee table. "May, don't scare me like that!"

The blonde Kanker pulled out her tongue and closed her eyes cutely. "Sorry, sis. What're you up to?"

"Well, I just finished this…" She smiled while looking at her photo album. "And I'm going to spend the whole afternoon looking at them again."

May was happy for her sister, but pouted. "Well, I was hoping we could play Checkers later, but I guess I'll leave you to it. I'm gonna go to the cul de sac."

Marie didn't need to ask where her little sister was headed. "Okay… say hi to him for me." She said, trying to tease the girl. May just giggled and stepped outside.

* * *

"Rolf is confused. This game you speak of is not played with paddles or a ball?"

Kevin sighed. He didn't know why he was trying to assimilate Rolf to their culture. "... No, Rolf."

"And why must we sit in front of the television if we are not going to watch the Gone with the Wind?"

"Dude, what century do you live in?" Kevin said, surprised. "The game comes out on the TV!"

Rolf scratched his head in confusion.

"I'll show you in a little bit." Kevin rang the doorbell on Eddy's house.

"Kevin, Rolf, you made it!"

"Yeah, what's up, chump?!"

The three boys fist-bumped each other and made their way inside.

"Just so you know, Eddy. I have a cousin in the capital who has a PS2."

Eddy snorted. "I've been wanting to get my hand on one of those!"

"Dad's planning a vacation for us there this summer." He teased, "So you can kiss your little PsOne goodbye as soon as I come back with one!"

"Whatever, shovel chin!" Eddy mocked him. "It ain't here yet, you can't brag about it 'til you have it!" Kevin rolled his eyes. He was right, as much as he didn't want to admit it.

"So where is the big guy?"

"Ed is—"And suddenly they heard a crash sound, characteristic of a glass object shattering to pieces on the floor.

"Ed!"

Eddy ran to his bedroom to find both Johnny and Lumpy laughing over the glass of soda the latter had accidentally dropped.

"What the heck, you big ape!"

"Sorry, Eddy." Ed said, biting another piece of the buttered toast he had on his hand. "Johnny offered me some chips from the bowl and I had to let go of something..."

Kevin had to hold his breath to contain his laughter. Rolf disapproved and shook his head back and forth.

"Go bring a broom and clean this up yourself!"

Ed stood up and headed out of Eddy's bedroom to follow his instructions.

* * *

The blonde whistled happily. Her dandelions grew marvelously! Once she finished sweeping the leaves on her yard, she plucked one out and blew it to the wind, closing her eyes...

"Pfft, pfft! Ah... atchoo! Nazz, please point that thing away..."

The blonde cheerleader opened her eyes. "Oh, sorry May! I didn't notice you... How are you?"

May smiled to her friend. "I'm fine. How have you been?"

"Good, really! I was finishing my chores just now. What's that?" Nazz pointed to what May was carrying under her arm.

"This? It's a checkerboard. I'm headed to Double D's to play with him."

Nazz smiled. "Ah... How's he treating you?" Her words made the young Kanker blush.

"W-Well, He's been a perfect gentleman... I..." She sighed. "I can't believe two months ago I would only think of him as Marie's plaything, but now..." She sighed again. Nazz giggled.

"You're in good hands, you know?" She thought of something. "Hey! We gotta get together again for a sleepover one of these days... so you can tell me all about him!"

The blonde's teasing words made the youngest of the Kankers blush deeper, but she smiled nonetheless. "Y-Yeah, sure!"

"Maybe you can tell your sisters to come, I'll tell Sarah!"

May's smile grew wider. She had always been the younger sibling, and considering the strawberry blonde's age, she was excited at the opportunity of developing a sister relationship with her. "Oh, that'll be so fun! I'll make sure to talk to them. I gotta go now, bye!"

"Bye!" Nazz waved to the girl. She looked at her in the distance and thought about her relationship with the smartest of the Eds.

Blushing, she entered her house to freshen up. She thought of following her fellow blonde's example and go look for the bike boy in the red cap she hung around so much with.

* * *

With only one book left, Double D thought about sitting down and read for a bit. Ever since he wrote to his girlfriend, the boy had been very interested in rhymes. And yet, he had a hard time reading _The Canterbury Tales_. Shaking his head, he closed the book and put it away. As soon as he put the book in its place, he heard the doorbell ring.

"I'll get it!" The boy said as he approached the door.

"May!"

"Hiya, Double D!"

The couple, blushing, kissed each other. The beanie wearing boy wrapped his arms around the blonde girl.

"What brings my dear Turtle Dove to my humble abode?"

May giggled. "Hey, that rhymes! I brought a checkerboard, do you wanna play?"

Double D smiled, looking at the board game. He reasoned he had just about enough time to spend with his love before heading to Eddy's. "Sure. Please come in."

The kick had no effect. For all that he could try, his character only managed to break defense. Johnny was getting desperate. Finally, the tough biker got hit and fell down with a roundhouse kick. And yet, all Eddy had to do was get up, and with a dual kick to the air the redhead Taekwondo artist was knocked out.

"Gee! How do you do it, Eddy?!"

"It takes a quick and masterful hand, my friend..."

"Masterful hand? I really didn't want to hear that!"

Every boy laughed, while Eddy blushed but briefly.

"Whatever! Who else wants to try?"

Kevin flexed his fingers. "You're going down, dork!" As he chose his character, Eddy rejoiced. It was time to have a healthy revenge with the bike boy for all the little problems they had before.

* * *

"King me!"

"Mmm. Alright." Double D put a black piece on top of May's. "But you were supposed to capture, so you must forfeit this piece." He said, as he took another black piece towards the middle of the board.

"Oh, shucks!" May complained, to which Double D smiled.

"If you want, we can play our next game without the rule."

"No. It's fine, Double D. How come you're so good at this game?"

"I used to play checkers a lot with Mom. She would always beat me, but now we're about even."

"Coool..."

"It really is a whole lot easier than Chess, but I still prefer that game. Even if father always beats me."

"Chess? What's that?"

Double D widened his eyes in surprise. "You don't know how to play Chess?"

May shook her head.

"Wait for me one second, I'll get the board!" Double D said, as he excitedly ran upstairs.

* * *

"Jimmy, are you ready yet?"

The boy stuck his head out of the kitchen. "Just a second, Sarah! The lady fingers are almost done."

Sarah rolled her eyes. She was getting tired of waiting for her friend. "Tell me again, why can't we buy popcorn for that movie you wanted to see?"

"Sarah! You cannot watch _The Phantom of the Opera_ and expect to eat mere popcorn! I am preparing us a fitting delicacy for our evening outing!"

The strawberry blonde half closed her eyes. "Jimmy. It's only three o' clock…"

The young boy smiled widely. "… Sorry. I'll admit, I got a little carried aw—" And then the oven rang. "They're done! Just a second, Sarah!"

Ed's little sister rolled her eyes again.

* * *

"Argh! No fair, man!"

Eddy smirked. He won, but this time his character had a little more damage done to him. "You asked for it, Kevin boy."

"I thought I could beat you with him… why do they give him a devil form if he's not going to transform?!" Kevin was annoyed.

"Devil form or not, I would've still beat ya! Who else dares defy me?"

Kevin turned to his blue haired friend. "Rolf! You've seen enough. Why don't you give this guy a lesson?"

The son of a shepherd smiled, confident enough since Kevin trusted him with the task of beating Eddy. "You shall taste the fury of Rolf, short Ed boy!"

Eddy widened his eyes. Kevin and Johnny had to get a hold of Rolf as he grabbed the PlayStation controller and started swinging it to Eddy as if it was a nunchuk. The tallest of the Eds remained seated, munching on yet another buttered toast while looking at their friends' current situation amusingly.

"Rolf, no! I meant in the game, IN THE GAME!" Kevin yelled, snatching the controller from his hands.

"Oh… Sorry, Eddy. Kevin, hand me the controller, please."

Kevin gave Rolf the controller, and after receiving it, Rolf sat down.

"Dude… You're holding it backwards…"

"I am right handed and I prefer my directional thingies on my right hand!"

Kevin raised his hands to his chest. "Okay, okay, do as you like."

Thinking he would be able to defeat Eddy if he fought well-armed, Rolf chose a character wearing armor, wielding a katana. When the fight started, Eddy tried to hit Rolf, but he made his character twirl away.

"Good dodge, Rolf! You got'im..."

And yet, Rolf kept on making his character twirl away. It didn't take long for this one to fall to the floor, knocked out.

"What happened to my warrior?"

Eddy sighed, then contained his laughter. "That's why I never play with him, Rolfy."

* * *

"So... This one moves to the front..."

"But only once, except on the first move."

"Right. And this one moves making an L shape."

"Yes, jumping over."

"And this one moves diagonally... and this one horizontally... and this one moves like both... right?"

"Exactly." Double D smiled.

"And the King moves only one space in any direction?"

"Yes, except on its first move if an only if it can castle with either rook, where he moves two spaces either to the left or to the right."

May was confused. Castle? En passant_?_ Check? She wasn't sure which was which.

"Ookay. So I go first?"

"Yes, you're white."

"But so are you...?"

Double D laughed. "No... I mean, you have the white pieces, you must start first."

May was pensive. "But... isn't that a bit racist?"

Double D didn't know what to say.

* * *

She closed her photo album and set it down. Now that she was done, she thought about finding something to watch on the TV. And yet, right before picking up the remote, Marie decided she couldn't simply waste a sunny day indoors.

As the blue haired girl stood up, she thought about finding her blonde sister, in case she still wanted to play checkers or do something else.

* * *

"Oh yeah! Who's the man?!"

Kevin and Rolf rolled their eyes. Johnny just laughed.

"Can't we play another game?"

"Nu-uh! We agreed this would be a tournament, so there! Live it with it, shovel chin! I'm the champion here—"

"What about me?"

Kevin, Rolf and Johnny cheered as Ed set his toast down and grabbed a controller.

"Choose your punishment, lumpy!"

Ed grinned, chose a character, and started mashing buttons.

* * *

"No... Pawns can't capture and skip to the next diagonal space, May."

"Whoopsie."

"Now. Look at my position carefully. If you don't move a specific piece, you could lose in the next move."

May brought a hand to her forehead as she rested her elbow on the table, deep in thought. A couple of knocks on the front door broke her concentration.

"Excuse me one second." Double D said as he walked to the door. "Yes?"

"Hi, Double D." Marie saluted him. "Have you seen my sister?"

"Oh, hi Marie! Yes, May is here with me." The boy stepped aside to let the blue haired girl in.

"You're behaving yourself, right?" She teased, an act which made the beanie wearing boy blush.

"Y-Yeah! I'm not l-like that, you know…"

"Just kidding." She grinned. "She'd beat you up if you try anything anyways." The boy slumped his shoulders a little at such truth. "May!"

"Hi, Marie!"

As she approached the blonde, Double D sat back on the opposite side of the table, in front of May. Marie sat at the head, both teens to each of her sides. "So you're playing…"

"Yeah… Do you wanna help me?"

Marie looked at the board with interest. The white rooks where on the left, while the white king was on the right, covered only by a pawn as two black bishops threatened to produce a mate in one. The middle Kanker daughter scratched her forehead. There was only one thing left.

"Okay, this is what you're gonna do…"

Double D saw the situation with a smiley face. He was happy that, despite the problems the two sisters had, they were now inseparable. He rejoiced, content that there were no obstacles for him to be with May, nor any resentment that would make any friendship with Marie impossible.

Suddenly his face dropped as he saw the board. "B-But… hey!"

Smug, Marie grabbed the black King and leaned it down to the board. "There. You won!"

"I did? Yay!"

"Wait, Marie. She's not supposed to move pieces that are not her own."

Marie raised an eyebrow. "You said it, mister. _She_ is not supposed to, but what about me?"

Both girls laughed as Double D made a face. And yet, he soon followed on the merriment.

* * *

"Gimme a sec, I'm gonna go get a jacket."

"Sure."

Once Ed's little sister grabbed a cyan jacket, she and her best friend walked out, headed to the Peach Creek mall, intent on watching a movie. Jimmy was happily carrying a bulky bag.

"Are you sure it's okay for you to eat that many ladyfingers?"

"Don't worry, Sarah. I don't have to worry about my teeth since I'm due to have my braces removed in a couple of weeks."

"That's great, Jimmy!"

The young strawberry blonde was excited. Now that they were out on a sunny Saturday afternoon, she could focus on enjoying the rest of the day with her neighbor.

As the two walked towards the entrance of the cul de sac, they saw a beanie wearing boy step out of his house. Sarah smiled inside, her day kept getting better!

"Hey, Double D!"

"Hi, Jimmy!"

Sarah didn't know why, but she couldn't articulate a single word.

"We are going to see a movie at the theater, do you want to come with us? We've got lady fingers…" Jimmy asked. Sarah felt like she could eat her finger nails.

"Well…"

_Please say yes, please say yes!_

But just about as Double D was going to reply, the blonde Kanker showed up, coming out of Double D's house. "Nah, I played with him all aftern—Hi, Jimmy!"

"May!"

Both the girl and her neighbor hugged. Sarah could only stare dumbfounded.

"Hi, Marie!"

The blue haired girl smiled. "What's up, Curly Cue?" Marie said, as she pinched one of Jimmy's cheeks. The boy, elated, went back to Sarah.

"This is great, right Sarah? Now we could all go tog—"

Sarah felt four pairs of eyes focus on her. She didn't find the Kanker sisters as intimidating anymore, but she couldn't help but to feel unease for different reasons, reasons that involved he who captivated her and the girl who now was by his side.

"… Sorry, Jimmy. I'm… I lost interest. Let's go to the movies some other time."

And with that, Sarah walked back to her house. Her sunny world had quickly turned cloudy gray. Jimmy watched her leave, disheartened.

"What happened to her?" Double D asked.

"I… I don't know, Double D. Um… I should go keep her company. Sorry I won't be able to go with you to the cinema."

Double D smiled. "Don't worry. I was headed to Eddy's, I promised him to show up for his party. Well, I guess you should go see Sarah now."

"Yeah. Bye…"

Jimmy shook hands with Double D and waved goodbye to May and Marie. The blonde Kanker, sympathetic, waved back while frowning a bit. The blue haired girl, on the other hand, would only salute the young boy with two fingers, her face expressionless, her mind obviously occupied on processing the situation at hand.

Once he was gone, Double D turned around his two companions. "Do you want to come with me to see Eddy?"

* * *

Her pace was slow and carefree. Now that she was out of work, Lee walked back to their home at the Park N' Flush trailer park without haste.

She decided to save time and walk through the cul de sac to get to their trailer, when she saw in the distance a blue haired girl, a blonde and a beanie wearing boy enter the house of the boy she liked.

_A party, and I wasn't invited?_ Amused, the redhead Kanker hurried her steps towards Eddy's house.

* * *

"Okay, you can sit on that corner, and you—Johnny, the chips!"

"Got'em!"

Eddy sighed. Just as he was trying to make space for May and Double D (Marie was fine with sitting on the floor), the chips bowl almost fell to the floor. Luckily Johnny managed to catch it.

"You want some, Ed? Ed?"

But Sarah's brother wouldn't respond. The poor boy had a quivering mouth, big sad eyes, and he was on the verge of whimpering.

"Cheer up, lumpy, you came closer to beat me a round than anyone else..."

"You gotta teach me how to break dance like that, Ed!" Kevin asked of him, excited that such move could produce damage.

"Kevin, I believe the style you are referring to is called Capoeira." Double D corrected.

"Whoa, leave it to the nerd..." Eddy joked. May and Marie laughed.

"Okay. Who else is gonna play against me?" Eddy asked.

"What about Plank?"

"No way!" Eddy replied. Looking at his best friend, he demanded. "Hey, Double D! You're up!"

"Smart Ed boy hasn't played, yes? Put short Ed boy in his place."

"Yeah, Double D. He's beaten all of us, and you play more often with him, you gotta beat him!"

Soon Double D found the four boys pleading with him, while Marie and May watched the whole situation, entertained.

"Um... Alright." Double D grabbed a controller and was about to choose the cop, when someone else knocked on the front door.

"Who is it now?" Eddy approached and opened the door. "Lee?"

"What, you're having a good time without me?"

"Er... come in..." He said, and the both of them made their way to Eddy's bedroom.

Once there, both Kankers waved hi to her. May patted the bed to get the redhead to sit next to her.

"So you invite all these people and not me? I thought we had a thing." She said, trying to tease the boy out loud. Kevin, Rolf, Johnny and Ed started wooing, which reddened the short con impossibly.

"Sit down, we _men_ are going to play." He almost commanded. Marie and Lee raised an eyebrow.

"Are you implying we _women_ can't play that lame game?"

"Oooh!" Johnny made accusatory noises which annoyed Eddy but slightly.

"Not at all, Lee. If you would like, here. You can play against Eddy before me." Double D said, as he handed the controller to the redhead.

"I didn't mean that," Eddy clarified, "But c'mon, Double D! She doesn't know how to play this anyways..."

"I can learn as fast as any of you." Lee said, as she took the controller from the beanie boy's hands.

And yet, Eddy insisted. "Argh, no offense Lee, but I want a challenge! Double D—"

Lee smirked, "Alright, Eddy. I understand if you're scared..."

Kevin, Johnny, Marie and Rolf started laughing, as well as making teasing noises, to which Eddy started to get redder and redder with every tease.

"Fine! Get ready to lose, Lee!"

Lee sat down next to Eddy on the floor. She chose the redhead wearing a red cheongsam while Eddy maintained his character.

As the first round started, Lee tested the buttons to fight. "Okay, how do you attack here?"

"You may use the ex or the circle to deliver kicks," Double D stated, "and the square and triangle for punches."

"And you can use them in combination with the arrows to make special hits!" Eddy said, as he mercilessly delivered a punch to Lee's character which sent her flying.

"Hey! Alright then... How do you jump?"

"Up!" Double D said. Just as Eddy's character was running to her, Lee managed to kick him. Then she jumped back to get away. As Eddy rose, Lee tried to punch him, but the boy would put up a defense. As Lee mashed the square and triangle, she noted something. Each of the buttons controlled a different limb. Pushing them along with forward or backward movements would trigger different hits. At that moment, Eddy decided to attack, but suddenly the biker went down, hit by a back slap.

"You go, Lee!" May cheered.

"Tchk... I'm not done yet, red..."

Lee smiled. She noticed Eddy was getting frustrated. Despite the challenge, she was having a good time.

Once the biker stood up, Eddy made him trip the girl, after which he delivered an elbow blow. Lee's character was pushed away a bit. With very little health left, Lee desperately pressed both punch buttons as she pressed the down arrow by mistake. Eddy's character ran to hers, but to her surprise she couldn't make her jump away. The woman in the cheongsam took a crane stance, after which she delivered a hard blow to both sides of the biker, making him fall.

"What?! How'd you do that?"

Lee was surprised herself, but she didn't let it show. "It takes a skillful hand, m'boy..."

Ed, who had remained in solitude after his defeat, turned his head to the TV. Lee had now lowered Eddy's character health to about one fourth left. She had come closer to beating him a round more than anyone who had played against him that day.

But Lee's smugness would not last, as Eddy used his character to deliver a falling blow to Lee's character, knocking her out.

"Oh! So close!"

"That was an intriguing round!"

Lee stood up. "Well, at least I showed you I can hold my own against you." She walked to Double D to hand him the controller.

"Wait, Lee. He is supposed to defeat you two rounds to win."

Lee's smirk grew wider. "Really?" _There is no way this is happening again._

Once round two started, Lee was ready. She blocked Eddy's punch, and landed a couple of slaps. Eddy also connected a few hits, but the redhead Kanker would back and jump away. Just as Eddy's biker delivered a double kick, Lee pressed the down arrow quickly, intending to duck, but she side-stepped as she had pressed the button twice. Eddy had to grumbly take a kick to the face. Lee was excited, she had more health than Eddy so far.

And yet, when she tried to jump towards Eddy, he jumped while at the same time punching her.

"So you can attack while jumping?"

"Yes."

"Good to know!" Lee stuck her tongue halfway out, engrossed in the game. As she got up, she jumped and kicked the biker, who fell down. "So I'm guessing you can also attack while ducking!" Lee made her character crouch, and she kicked Eddy's character, who cursed.

But, as she remained close to him, Eddy got up and with a move that released a purple smoke, Eddy's biker grabbed Lee's woman by an arm and threw her over his shoulder.

"Whoa, you can throw an opponent too?"

"Yeah," Double D intervened again. "You must either combine a punch with a kick or both kicks or both punches, depending on your character."

Lee grew even more excited. With all the punching, kicking, and violence she felt the game was made for her! She made her character get up and quickly delivered a couple more slaps. She was trying to come closer to the biker to attempt a throw...

When she heard Eddy scream next to her, as she realized the biker groaned and fell to the ground. Lee had managed to beat Eddy at his own game!

The cul de sac children were speechless. Kevin rubbed his eyes.

"How...How did you..."

"Lee, that was amazing!" Marie cheered.

Double D was afraid to look at his friend, who was still looking at the screen, the replay of his partial defeat showing up at a slower pace. "E-Eddy, are you—"

"You got lucky, Lee!" Eddy yelled, getting worked up. "Get ready for the last round!"

"I was born ready, shorty!"

Eddy was so focused on trying to beat Lee that he didn't seem to mind her tease. But Lee was a fast learner, as she kept jumping away and defending against Eddy's attacks. The fact that the short con had lost his first round in the whole day made him prone to mistakes. Lee would defend and slap. Occasionally, Eddy's biker would land a hit, only to have Lee block with her character. Eddy was losing more health than what he was taking away. Hastily, he approached Lee's character with a jumping kick, but Lee simply ducked. When she stood, she was right next to Eddy's character.

Taking heed of Double D's advice, Lee pushed punch and kick buttons interchangeably, and she noticed the same purple effect take place. The woman in the cheongsam grabbed the biker by an arm, twisted it like a windmill, and threw him to the floor. Lee almost dropped the controller as she hurried to press down and kick to hit him while on the ground, but this instead made her press the two kick buttons, along with the arrow pointing to the biker while at the same time pressing the down arrow. Everybody in the room laughed as Lee's character put her foot on top of the biker's chest and stomped him, draining his health.

As if to break the silence, everybody clapped, congratulating Lee on defeating the proud Eddy, who now looked to the floor in defeat.

"You gotta teach me how to hit like that!"

"That was most wonderful, Lee!"

"Far out, dude, you rock!"

"That's my sis!"

Lee felt the colors somewhat going up her face. "I was just lucky, is all. C'mon, Eddy. No hard feelings? Let's play a game without making a war out of it, shall we?"

"... Okay." Getting his hopes up, the boy raised his voice. "Who wants to play me now? Double D?"

Rolf, Kevin, and Johnny started to groan. Double D was hesitant to take the controller off of Lee's hand, so it fell to the floor. As some buttons got pressed upon impact, everyone heard the sound of the game restarting.

"Uh... what's that blinking light?" Marie asked, as she grabbed the controller. "Ball mode?"

"Huh? I've never played that before..." Eddy said.

Marie pressed a button and soon they stared at a character selection screen, with a beach ball at the bottom. "Hmmm. Interesting!"

Eddy smirked. This was a whole side of the game he didn't know about! But it was still his game. There was no way he could lose...

Sadly, as he played against Marie's native American girl, he was too focused on attacking her, not realizing her health wasn't dropping. It then dawned on him, as he lost two rounds, that what was actually lowering health was getting hit by the beach ball, or letting it fall on one's side of the field.

"What?! Nooo!"

"Yes! I won, I won!" Everyone whooped and cheered, but not as loudly. Eddy suddenly didn't look like the huge pain on the side he had been for the duration of the party. "You wanna play, May?"

"Sure!"

Eddy managed to (barely) win a round against the blonde Kanker, but his aim to hit the ball was still sloppy. The poor con was less than calm after being defeated by the redhead. As he was beaten by the last of the Kanker sisters, she handed the controller to Double D, who beat Eddy just as easily. Soon, Kevin was sating his need to show up his neighbor and friend. After bearing five beatings in a row, Eddy silently stood, handed his controller to Ed, who took it happily, and slowly walked out the room to his backyard. Nobody save a tall redhead noted when he exited the place, as they were too entertained with the new game type.

* * *

The backyard door slid open once again. Lee looked at the boy staring towards her trailer park, leaning on the back wooden fence. Fortunately, Eddy didn't seem to be mad, and yet she felt unease as she heard him sigh.

"Eddy?"

The boy turned his head slowly. "Lee… You didn't have to follow me."

"I wanted to."

As Eddy turned back to his front, Lee walked to lean on the fence next to him.

"Stretch."

Lee laughed.

"Why did you come out here? Don't you wanna play anymore?"

Lee went to the point. "I wouldn't have as much fun…"

"What do you mean?"

The girl leaned her head to a side and turned to him, "You're serious?"

Eddy thought about it, and realizing what she meant, he blushed a bit and turned away. After a few seconds, he sighed again and spoke:

"I thought I could look a lot cooler if I invited the guys for a couple games, and even more so if I beat them, so I tried getting good at it… but then I started losing and… well it's not the same as when I was winning…"

"I'm going to ask you one question."

"What's that?"

Lee said, "Do you think Ed or Double D mock you behind their back?"

"I used to, I remember trying to get it out of Sockhead one day that we dressed as each other and dared ourselves to be each other."

"Really? And what happened?"

"Double D lied to make me believe they did, but his laugh afterwards made me realize I was too worried of what they thought of me."

"Exactly, Eddy. You're thinking things too much. Double D forgave you after what you did to him and May, and everyone else has been friendlier to you since then, isn't that right?"

Eddy was a bit surprised. "… Yes…"

"So you don't need to prove anything to anyone. These guys… they like you, they finally like you for you. Who cares if you're good at gaming or not? You had fun, they're having fun. That's all that matters, right?"

Eddy felt his eyes flicker. He didn't quite understand it, but he felt his throat suddenly hoarse, his hands a bit shaky, and his heart beating sharply. "Yeah… T-Thank you, Lee. Wanna come back inside?"

The redhead Kanker nodded. As the two walked side by side, she took the chance and grabbed his hand. "You know, it's only been one fight… But I had a lot of fun with you there." She found it weird that she felt a slight need to turn her head away. Eddy was surprised, but after looking at Lee in the face, he smiled and closed his fingers on her hand, making the Kanker grin.

"Yeah, me too."

The two walked inside, and as they entered, everyone in the room looked at them.

"Who wants to play another game?!"

Every boy in the room cheered.

* * *

**Notes: **I haven't been able to write again in so long because of school, but I still have several ideas in mind, which I'll put into words little by little.

Can anyone guess what game the guys are playing? And what characters is each one (of the ones described) using?

Question: Would you like to see MTJAH (More Than Just A Hullabaloo) as a comic on deviantart? Even if only on black and white?

Also, remember to check the cover for this fic on my deviantart page!


End file.
